Meet the Cast
Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe
Before we explore this character, we'd like to pause to make sure we're all on the same page. As a rule, the respectful way to discuss transgender people is by using the name and pronoun they speci...
Greta Wegener
Greta's Got ItGreta isn't like most wives. After all, most wives don't have husbands who want to be wives, but even if they did, most wives (the ones who start the relationships as wives) probably...
Baron Hans Axgil
Hans and FriendsHans is Einar's childhood friend who grows up to be good friends with Greta and Lili. He's tall and friendly with big hands—think Shrek as a human—but more importantly, Hans pro...
Carlisle Waud
Oh, BrotherCarlisle is basically Greta, but male, and along this line, he shares her traits of forgiveness and perseverance. Even though Greta accidentally injured Carlisle as a boy, giving him a p...
Henrik Sandahl
Fish TaleIn any other novel, Henrik would be classified as Male Love Interest. We wouldn't even remember his name, because he's pretty generic. He's the first man Lili meets, he falls in love with...
Teddy Cross
Couldn't Bear ItWe only see Teddy through flashback, but he provides us with greater understand of Greta and her motivations. How's this for an SAT analogy: Teddy is to Greta what Henrik is to Lili...
Professor Alfred Bolk
Dresden DollsProfessor Bolk is the good doctor who performs Einar's gender reassignment surgery. Although Einar Wegener was a real person, and shattered barriers by having the first surgery of this...
Anna Fonsmark
It's Not Over Until the Person of Unknown Weight and Size SingsAnna is too busy singing opera to be a major character, but she appears at two critical moments in Lili's life—her "birth" and her d...